This
part of the story starts out a while back, back when
Revolver shackles first came out. These were the cats ass
when it came to suspension articulation. They could put you
over the top if you wanted to be a ramp king, but just
because you're a ramp king doesn't make you a better wheeler
out on the trails. Turns out Revolvers weren't all that and
they fell to the wayside. The problem with revolvers is when
they are open (flexed out) and you’re on the throttle trying
to get some traction, they often would just snap shut. This
allowed tire hop and traction is lost. Of course this sucked
for me because I built my suspension around these shackles.
Now it's time to make a change.
The
original springs I put under the rig were not exactly what I was looking for, they were
2" wide YJ 4" lift springs. Now I'm going
to run 2.5" rear YJ springs on all four corners.
The wider 2.5" springs allow for better spring rates. Better spring rates mean a
better ride and some good flexing! And for an added bonus, these springs
are military wrapped. The advantage of running military wrapped springs are if you
ever snap the main leaf you can still limp out to civilization.
Here's where the not so simple comes into play. It’s not
just a matter of swapping out the springs, I'm going to have
to swap out the spring perches and plates since I'm going
with the wider springs. I scored these perches and spring
plates from Rubicon Express, very beefy compared to the
parts coming off.
Rubicon on the left, stock on the right.
Again,
Rubicon left and stock right.
Bye bye Revolvers....
Axle pulled...obviously.
Getting' ready for surgery.
Old mounts cut off and the new ones welded
into place. I'm also gonna gain about 1/2" of lift with these perches. They sit up
a bit higher!
Just need to lay down a little paint and I'm good to go on this end.
After reassembly I didn't like
the way the Jeep sat so I've replaced the 2.5" lift springs with 4" lift
springs. The suspension height is much more to my liking but I've
created more problems. The inverted T steering I'm running is now
rubbing on the leaf spring. To fix this I could do several things, go
back to the 2.5" springs which is not going to happen. I could also
lower the springs perches which I've thought long and hard about, but
the chances this 1/2" clearance will be enough is unlikely. So I will
hold off on that one for now. Another option will be to change out the
steering system from the Inverted T style to Crossover steering.
Here you can see with the suspension loaded there's not enough room to
fit my finger between the leaf and the draglink. When the suspension is unloaded
the leaf spring arches and the draglink hits the spring. Not good
if you need to steer like I sometimes do.
The Inverted T steering system is where the tie rod attaches
knuckle-to-knuckle, and the drag link attaches to the tie rod, usually
near the right hand side. When I change over to the Crossover steering
the drag link and tie rod attach independently to the passenger side
knuckle which I think will give me enough clearance. Keeping fingers
crossed!
Crossover steering will require a new tie rod, new draglink, and new
steering arms. I'm debating on whether or not I want to fab up my own
tie rods, but I think I will. Just gotta get the parts on order ASAP!
First parts to hit the door, Crane high clearance steering
arms. The arms kick in at the front to allow clearance for deep
offset wheels, ideal if your gonna run the 5" back spaced Hummer
rims. I run 15" x 12" rims with a backspacing of 4"...I'll have
plenty of room to spare.
The Crane steering arms compared to the Tri-County Gear
arms, big difference in clearance!
Because I'm going to space the steering arms 2" over the top
of the knuckle I needed to find some longer studs...not as easy
as you would think! After few weeks of ordering hardware I thought would work, I've
come to the conclusion that no one makes a stud the size and
strength I need.
I found these grade 9 bolts that were the right length, then
had a machine shop turn them into studs. I never knew there was
grade 9 stuff out there.
One ton tie rod ends and .250" wall tubing/tie rods.
Had to ream the steering arms to accept the large TRE's.
Using a part#11221 1/2-1" reamer and little muscle takes allot of
time but power tools can't be used. At least that's what it said
on the package the reamer came in.
Picked up some new JKS sway-bar disconnects. They've really
stepped up their game from the last set I bought years ago.
Shock and sway-bar mounts welded, spring plate painted and
installed. Look closely, see the three holes in the top of the
spring plate? The spring perch also has the same three holes.
This allows for the axle to be mounted in three positions all
about an inch apart. I'm running the axle as far forward as
possible extending the wheel base by an inch...every little bit
helps right?
Here you can see the double stacked 1" spacers, looks kinda
chicken shit but if I have any problems I will weld the spacers
and arms together for strength.
And that's pretty much it as far as the frontend goes.
Now I need to bend out some fuel line, mount the fuel pump
and filter and get this thing turned around so I can get to work
on the ass end!
An afternoon of wrestling with a tube bender I finally bent
out something I can live with.
